Carlos Carvalhal drops clear hint he might return to Sheffield Wednesday | OneFootball

Beloved Owls boss Carlos Carvalhal knows to never say never about coming back to Hillsborough one day as manager

There arguably isn't a more beloved modern-day Sheffield Wednesday manager than Carlos Carvalhal, and the feeling between the fans and the Portuguese boss is mutual.

It's been a hectic 12 months for the Owls, as they've transformed from a club on the brink of survival to one with a newfound optimism for the future.

A month has recently passed in Wednesday's new era under the Arise ownership, and already, David Storch and co have laid a strong foundation to hit the ground running with the club back in League One.

With David Bruce as the club's new CEO and Simon Wilson heavily reported to be joining the club as the new sporting director, a clear strategy looks to be in place, and those at Hillsborough are hoping that it won't be long until Sheffield Wednesday are back challenging for a place in the Premier League.

The last man to lead the Owls to the second-tier play-offs was Carvalhal, who recorded back-to-back top-six finishes in his two full years at the club, losing to Hull City in the 2016 final and Huddersfield Town on penalties in the 2017 semi-finals.

Those two seasons are highly regarded as the only good ones under the Chansiri reign, as the former owner's investment, both on and off the field, in the years that followed, was minimal.

Carlos Carvalhal doesn't rule out a return to Sheffield Wednesday in the future

Carvalhal recently returned to Hillsborough for a charity game and reaffirmed his love for Sheffield Wednesday.

He isn't the only man who is pleased that David Storch and the Arise consortium have taken over, and expressed great pride at the backing the club received from the fanbase in the first game of their new era on the final day of the Championship campaign.

"I have such an emotional connection with the club," Carvalhal told the Sheffield Star. "I look all the time at the score, my phone has Sofascore and all the time I have Sheffield Wednesday for every goal.

"I am, of course, very sad with what happened with the club, I am very unhappy with the situation and how the club has not developed in the last seasons. But I saw what happened in the last game, it gives hope to the club.

"I am very happy that someone has come with good ideas, and I am very happy that there are no deducted points next season. This is very important. I was really, really proud to see in the last game that they had a full stadium. It was completely full; it was so emotional to see that."

Wednesday arguably hasn't had that swell of support since Carvalhal was in the dugout himself, but the 60-year-old hopes that more crowds like the one seen against West Brom can come together next season in League One to help them back to the Championship at the first time of asking.

The Portuguese boss has managed seven different clubs since leaving Hillsborough in 2017, the most recent of which came at Braga — his third spell with his hometown side.

Despite people back in Portugal stating that you should never go back to an old club, Carvalhal has clearly had success at the second time of asking at certain clubs, and didn't rule out the possibility of him doing it at Sheffield Wednesday, too.

"I don't know," he smiled when asked about a possible return. "The people in Portugal say never go back a second time to the place where you were happy.

"But I was at Vitoria Setubal, we were promoted, I went back, and we won the cup and went to European competitions. I was at Braga, I went back, and we won the Cup of Portugal. So you never know."

Sheffield Wednesday fully focused on short-term future with Henrik Pedersen

Crucially, Carvalhal praised the work that Henrik Pedersen has done at Sheffield Wednesday over the past year, the Star went on to state. As it stands, the Owls are set to begin life back in League One with the Dane in charge, and that looks to be a popular opinion among fellow coaches.

Despite just two league wins and 18 points collected during his first campaign in charge, Pedersen has been the subject of praise for how he's been able to remain positive and galvanise a squad during a period of extreme turmoil.

Plenty of critics believe that Pedersen has earned the opportunity to coach Wednesday into this new era and showcase what he can do with some financial backing and with a team that will be a lot more competitive on the field.

But managers never stay at their post for too long, and perhaps in the future, once Pedersen and Sheffield Wednesday go their separate ways, Carvalhal may be putting himself in the eyeline to come back and try and lead the Owls one step further than he managed a decade ago.

And if he did, he'd be an even more popular figure than he already is at Hillsborough.